Child Injured at Friend's House Lawyer in Crofton

Wes Henderson - Children Injury Attorney Crofton, MD


Child Injured at Friend’s House Lawyer

You are likely excited for your child to visit a friend’s house. After all, most parents enjoy knowing that their child is doing well with socializing. Parents also enjoy knowing that they will have some free time to run errands or simply relax. Kids are curious and unpredictable, however, and accidents are known to happen no matter where they are.

If your child is injured while visiting a friend’s house, you can quickly find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. While you likely do not want to sue your child’s friend’s family or ask for money to pay your child’s hospital bills, you may need to pursue compensation for your family’s losses through an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit.

Common Child Injuries

Bruises and cuts represent many injuries received by children. These injuries are fortunately not often serious and do not require costly medical care. More serious injuries like broken bones and traumatic brain injuries, however, are also common among children and often require extensive and costly medical treatment.

Many of these injuries occur when children are exposed to unfamiliar or dangerous environments at a friend’s house. These might include pools, power tools, or pets. Children can be burned, poisoned, or suffer traumatic brain injuries that will impact them for the rest of their lives. These injuries make up a large portion of the 9.2 million cases of children treated in emergency rooms each year.

Who is Responsible for Your Child’s Injuries?

When a child is playing at a friend’s house, that friend’s parent or guardian is responsible for keeping the children safe. This means that the other party must take reasonable steps to make sure that children are not harmed while at the residence. If your child is hurt because someone failed to adequately supervise him or her, this other party can often be held responsible for resulting damages.

The damages that you can expect to face after your child is injured include medical bills, loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering. The exact amount of compensation that you can expect to receive will depend on the unique details of your case.

Promptly Report the Injury

If a child is injured while visiting a friend’s house, it is common for parents to hesitate when deciding whether to report the accident. While parents do not want to ruin the child’s friendship, failing to report the injury can damage the grounds of any potential personal injury lawsuit.

Any defense attorneys hired by the responsible party will argue that the time difference between the accident and when it was reported means that the child could have been injured in an unrelated incident. Parents should similarly avoid making informal agreements with the other party. By accepting any informal compensation from your child’s friend’s parents, you might prevent yourself from being able to pursue a personal injury case in the future.

Gather Evidence of the Accident

Before you begin pursuing compensation, you should make sure to fully document the child’s injuries as well as details about the accident. You should gather information about:

  • Contact information for anyone who saw the accident occur
  • Where the accident occurred
  • Pictures of whatever caused the accident
  • Pictures of the injuries caused by the accident
  • The extent of the child’s injuries
  • The cost of medical treatment for the injuries

Report the Claim

If you are worried about receiving adequate compensation for the damage, your personal injury lawyer can help you pursue compensation on the other party’s homeowner’s insurance policy. Most times, these matters need not proceed to a court of law at all, but are handled as insurance claims. While it is a good idea to report the accident to the applicable insurance agency, you should also understand that there are two types of claims you can pursue. These claims include:

  • “Med Pay” coverage is a type of insurance coverage designed to compensate for medical expenses related to an injury regardless of what caused it. This means that there is no requirement to establish that someone was negligent in order to receive this compensation.
  • “Bodily injury” coverage pays only when the property owner or someone else in the family is determined to be responsible. To obtain this compensation, it must be established that the property owner or their representative acted negligently and that this negligence caused the child’s injury. Because responsible parties often change their stories about how accidents occurred, it is critical to obtain documentation about the cause of the accident as early as possible to increase your chances of obtaining bodily injury coverage.

Speak with an Experienced Accident Attorney

If your child is injured while visiting a friend’s house, seeking compensation can be awkward. Fortunately, an accident lawyer can help you navigate this process. Contact Henderson Law today to schedule a free case evaluation.

Find out if you have a case. Call for your initial consultation.

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Cities We Serve

Henderson Law is accepting new cases in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Henderson Law is willing to take new clients across the State of Maryland, including, but not limited to, new cases arising in the following cities: Annapolis, MDCrofton, MD | Bowie, MD | Baltimore, MD | Glen Burnie, MD | Columbia, MD | Frederick, MD | Bethesda, MD | Ellicott City, MD | Dundalk, MD | Bel Air South, MDAspen Hill, MD | Gaithersburg, MD | Germantown, MD | Potomac, MD | and North Bethesda, MD.

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